Reconnecting the disconnected: The politics of infrastructure in the in-between city

This paper explores the politics of infrastructure in the evolving socio-spatial landscape of what we call the “in-between city,” that part of the urban region that is perceived as not quite traditional city and not quite traditional suburb (Sieverts, 2003). We posit that this new urban landscape which surrounds urban regions in many parts of the world is the remarkable new urban morphology where a large part of metropolitan populations live, work and play. While much attention has been on the winning economic clusters of the world economy and the devastated industrial structures of the loser regions, little light has been shed on the urban zones in-between. This paper deals specifically with these zones from the perspective of accessibility issues around urban infrastructures, in particular transportation. It is argued that only a combined understanding of scaled and topological approaches allow us to capture the complexities of the politics of urban infrastructures in the in-between city. Conceptually, we outline the definitive characteristics of this new landscape with a particular view towards urban Canada. Applying these concepts to a North American city, Toronto, Canada, we look specifically at the 85 sq km around York University, an area that straddles the line between the traditional suburb and the inner city.